Typhoon power woes in Philippines as death toll hits 38

A village official leads a child as he is evacuated from their house at an informal settlers’ area as Typhoon Rammasun barrels across Manila on Wednesday.

MANILA — Millions of people in the Philippines endured a second sweltering day without power on Thursday after a ferocious typhoon paralyzed the capital and wrecked flimsy rural homes, claiming at least 38 lives.

Authorities expressed frustration as reports from badly damaged areas filtered in and the death toll from Typhoon Rammasun, the first major storm of the Southeast Asian archipelago’s rainy season, was nearly doubled to 38.

“We still have to find out what exactly are the reasons a lot of our countrymen refuse to heed the warnings,” National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council chief Alexander Pama told reporters.

As part of a “zero casualty” effort, the government evacuated nearly 400,000 people from the path of Rammasun and warned others to stay indoors.

But most of the people who died were outdoors, killed by falling trees, collapsing buildings and flying debris, according to the council’s data.

Pama said the death toll could rise further, with mobile phone and other forms of communication still cut to some rural areas. He said at least eight people remained missing.

Rammasun, a Thai word for “Thunder God”, swept in off the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday night, then brought wind gusts of up to 160 kilometres an hour (100 miles) across land to Manila and other heavily populated northern regions.